JP2023150043A - Processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a processing apparatus capable of controlling operation of a control mechanism comprising air cylinders with good responsiveness.SOLUTION: A processing apparatus 10 comprises: a processing unit 30 that performs predetermined processing on an object 2; air cylinders 54 that displace the processing unit 30; a control valve 54e that controls a flow rate of air to be supplied to the air cylinders 54: and a compressed air source 54f that supplies compressed air to the control valve 54e. A pipe length of an air pipe 81 from one of the air cylinders 54 to the control valve 54e is shorter than a pipe length of an air pipe 82 from the control valve 54e to the compressed air source 54f.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a tape applicator and a tape applicator method, and more particularly to a tape applicator used in manufacturing fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) molded products by attaching a tape to a surface to which the tape is applied.

Fiber-reinforced plastic can be made into a desired shape by pasting a tape-shaped bundle of carbon fibers or other fibers impregnated with resin (also called prepreg tape, UD tape, etc.) onto the surface to be pasted. (FRP: Fiber Reinforced Plastics) A method of manufacturing a molded article is known.

These manufacturing methods have various names such as ATL (Auto Tape Layup), ATW (Auto Tape Welding), and AFP (Auto Fiber Placement), but these are not strictly distinguished. In this specification, the manufacturing method in which the tape is applied to the surface to be applied while being pressed is collectively referred to as ATL, and the device for applying the tape is also referred to as the ATL application apparatus.

An example of a conventional tape applicator is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

In the tape applicator described in Patent Document 1, an ATL head is attached to the end of an arm of an articulated robot. The ATL head includes a feeder that holds and conveys the tape, a heater that heats the surface to which the tape and/or work is to be applied, and a pressure roller that applies the tape to the surface to be applied.

The workpiece is, for example, an injection molded product of thermoplastic resin, has various shapes (three-dimensional shapes), and often has shape errors with respect to the designed shape and dimensions. .

Therefore, in the posture control of the ATL head by the articulated robot as disclosed in Patent Document 1, there may be places where the press roller does not sufficiently press the surface of the work to be applied, and the press state There is a problem in that it is difficult to maintain a constant pressing state of the pressing roller against the surface to be applied.

In order to solve this problem, the present applicants proposed a tape application device disclosed in Patent Document 2 below. In the tape applicator described in Patent Document 2, the ATL head includes a pressing section and a parallel link mechanism.

According to the tape applicator described in Patent Document 2, by controlling the operation of the parallel link mechanism, the pressing position and/or pressing posture of the pressing portion that presses the tape against the target surface of the workpiece follows the shape of the target surface. Even if the workpiece has some shape error, it is possible to maintain a constant pressing state of the pressing part against the surface to be applied, and the tape It has become possible to improve the performance of the pasting process.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-149730 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-147035

The tape applicator equipped with a parallel link mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 2 uses an air cylinder as the parallel link. This air cylinder is controlled by a servo valve, but if the piping length between the servo valve and the air cylinder is long, the responsiveness of the air cylinder will decrease due to pressure loss in the piping, and as a result, parallel There was a problem in that the response speed of the link mechanism became slow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a processing device that can control the operation of a control mechanism constituted by an air cylinder with good responsiveness.

In order to solve the above problems, the processing apparatus of the present invention includes a processing section that performs predetermined processing on a target object, an air cylinder that displaces the processing section, and a control valve that controls the flow rate of air supplied to the air cylinder. and a compressed air source that supplies compressed air to the control valve, the air piping length from the air cylinder to the control valve being shorter than the air piping length from the control valve to the compressed air source. It is characterized by

With the processing device of the present invention, the air piping length from the air cylinder to the control valve is relatively short, so the responsiveness of the air cylinder is increased.

The control valve further includes a plurality of drive mechanisms that move the processing section and the air cylinder in different axial directions, and the control valve is mounted on one of the movers included in the plurality of drive mechanisms. It's good to have one.

By doing so, the air cylinder is placed close to the control valve, so the length of the air piping from the air cylinder to the control valve can be shortened.

Moreover, the control valve is preferably mounted on the movable element to which the air cylinder is attached.

By doing so, the length of the air piping from the air cylinder to the control valve can be made approximately the shortest.

Further, it is preferable that the plurality of drive mechanisms have a gantry structure.

Further, the processing section may be a pressing section that presses the tape against the surface to be applied and holds the tape between the surface to be applied in order to apply the tape to the surface to be applied.

The present invention can be suitably used in a tape applying device including such a pressing section.

With the processing device of the present invention, it is possible to control the operation of a control mechanism constituted by an air cylinder with good responsiveness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a part of a tape pasting device that is an embodiment of a processing device of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the whole tape pasting device of an embodiment shown in Drawing 1. It is a figure explaining the tape pasting device in other embodiments of the present invention.

A tape pasting device which is an embodiment of the processing device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1(a) is a front view of a parallel link mechanism and a pressing portion that are part of the tape applicator, and FIG. 1(b) is a view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1(a). Moreover, FIG. 2 is a figure which shows the whole tape pasting apparatus, FIG. 2 (a) is a front view, and FIG. 2 (b) is a BB arrow directional view in FIG. 2 (a).

In the following description, the direction in which the tape 1 is applied is assumed to be the Y-axis direction, the direction orthogonal thereto on a horizontal plane to be the X-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to both the X-axis and Y-axis direction to be the Z-axis direction.

The tape pasting device 10 is a device for manufacturing a molded product reinforced with the tape 1 by pasting the tape 1 on the pasting surface 2a of the workpiece 2 in a predetermined pasting direction (Y-axis direction), It is configured to include an ATL head 20 and a feeder 70.

The tape 1 is, for example, a tape made by pre-impregnating at least a portion of a fiber bundle with a resin, and may be one impregnated with a thermoplastic resin (also called UD tape) or one impregnated with a thermosetting resin. Impregnated tape (also called prepreg tape) can be applied. The tape 1 may contain carbon fibers, or may be a resin tape mixed with many short fibers. The type of tape 1 can be selected as appropriate depending on the material of the workpiece 2 and the like. Further, the tape 1 may be in the form of a plurality of tapes arranged in parallel.

The workpiece 2 is, for example, a molded product having a three-dimensional shape, and may be a molded product made of resin such as a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin, or a molded product made of metal.

The ATL head 20 is attached to a gantry structure 71 (details will be described later), which is an embodiment of a handling robot, and the gantry structure 71 causes the entire ATL head 20 to approach and separate from the workpiece 2 . In addition to the gantry structure 71, this handling robot may include a general-purpose industrial robot that moves an object in at least one axis, such as an articulated robot (also referred to as a serial articulated mechanism). The gantry structure 71 includes a mechanism (three degrees of freedom) that can translate the ATL head 20 in the XYZ axis directions. Operation control of the gantry structure 71 is executed by the robot control section 71a.

The ATL head 20 includes a pressing section 30, an end section 40, a parallel link mechanism 50, and a base section 60.

The pressing unit 30 affixes the tape 1 to the surface 2a of the workpiece 2 while holding and pressing the tape 1 conveyed by the feeder 35 between the tape 1 and the surface 2a of the work 2 to be applied.

The end portion 40 is a flat plate that holds the pressing portion 30, and the pressing portion 30 is attached to a surface of the end portion 40 opposite to the surface on which the parallel link mechanism 50 is attached.

The parallel link mechanism 50 operates to displace the end portion 40 and cause the pressing position and/or pressing posture of the pressing portion 30 to follow the applied surface 2a.

The base portion 60 holds the side of the parallel link mechanism 50 opposite to the end portion 40 side, and a handling robot described below is attached to the base portion 60.

The pressing section 30 has a roller 31 that presses the tape 1, and further includes a roller support section 32 that supports the roller 31 rotatably around a rotating shaft 31a. The roller support portions 32 are disposed on both sides of the roller 31 in the longitudinal direction (rotation shaft 31a).

The roller 31 may be composed of a resin roller, an elastic roller, a metal roller, or the like, depending on the characteristics of the tape 1 or the material of the workpiece 2. The size (diameter, width) of the roller 31 can be appropriately selected depending on the type and size of the tape 1 used and the type and shape of the work 2. Note that in another configuration example, a pressing member such as a pressing shoe may be used instead of the roller 31.

The parallel link mechanism 50 includes a plurality of link parts 51 provided in parallel between the base part 60 and the end part 40. Each of these link portions 51 includes universal joints 52 and 53 at both ends, and an air cylinder 54 as an actuator provided between these universal joints 52 and 53. The number of link parts 51 is not particularly limited. For example, the link portion 51 may be composed of four pieces, or may be composed of three to six pieces.

The air cylinder 54 includes, for example, a cylinder portion 54a, a rod portion 54b that moves forward and backward depending on the pressure within the cylinder portion 54a, a pressure sensor 54c that detects the pressure within the cylinder portion 54a, and a displacement of the rod portion 54b. A displacement sensor 54d is provided.

The cylinder portion 54a is connected to a servo valve 54e, which is a control valve in the present invention, through an air pipe 81 having a pressure sensor 54c provided in the middle of the pipe route. The servo valve 54e adjusts the flow rate (inflow amount and exhaust amount) of air into the cylinder portion 54a, and controls the differential pressure between both chambers of the cylinder portion 54a. The servo valve 54e is connected by an air pipe 82 to an air pressure supply section 54f that outputs compressed air from a compressor or the like, which corresponds to a compressed air source in the present invention. The pressure signal detected by the pressure sensor 54c and the displacement signal detected by the displacement sensor 54d are each output to the ATL head control section 54g.

The ATL head control unit 54g includes, in addition to the three-dimensional coordinate data of the surface 2a to be pasted of the workpiece 2, a program that controls the operation of each part of the ATL head 20 based on the three-dimensional coordinate data, pressure signals, displacement signals, etc. remembered. The ATL head control unit 54g may be configured with a general-purpose computer device. Further, the ATL head control section 54g and the robot control section 71a may be configured as one control section.

The parallel link mechanism 50 changes the position (translation) and/or posture (rotation) of the end portion 40 by controlling the length of each of the plurality of link portions 51 with the air cylinder 54, thereby changing the position (translation) and/or attitude (rotation) of the end portion 40. It has a function of operating the pressing position and/or pressing posture so as to follow the shape of the surface to be applied 2a.

Note that it is preferable to adopt a parallel link mechanism 50 that has a degree of freedom that allows rotation of the roller 31 at least in the roll (θy) direction and the pitch (θx) direction by displacing the end portion 40. . Further, the degree of freedom of the parallel link mechanism 50 may be set in consideration of the operating function (degree of freedom) of the handling robot. Furthermore, regardless of the operating function of the handling robot, the parallel link mechanism 50 may be provided with a six-degree-of-freedom mechanism, that is, a mechanism for moving in six directions (three translational directions and three rotational directions).

The ATL head control unit 54g controls the operation (pressurizing operation or depressurizing operation) of the servo valve 54e of each air cylinder 54 using detection signals taken in from the pressure sensor 54c and displacement sensor 54d of each air cylinder 54. The ATL head control unit 54g controls the pressure in the cylinder part 54a of each air cylinder 54 and/or the displacement of the rod part 54b by controlling the operation of the servo valve 54e, and controls the pressing position of the roller 31 and/or the pressing position. A process is executed to control the displacement of the end portion 40 so that its posture follows the shape of the surface to be pasted 2a.

The ATL head control section 54g is preferably configured to perform impedance control in the displacement control of the end section 40 from the viewpoint of obtaining desirable compliance characteristics. In the impedance control, the actuator thrust is controlled so that the end portion 40 virtually realizes mechanical impedance consisting of inertia, viscosity, and rigidity. For example, in the impedance control, parameters of inertia, viscosity, and stiffness, which are target impedances, are set. Then, the displacement of the end part 40 with respect to the target value of the position and orientation of the end part 40 is measured, and the relationship between the displacement of the end part 40 and the force applied to the outside by the end part 40 satisfies a predetermined relationship (impedance control law). The operation of the parallel link mechanism 50 is controlled as follows.

Furthermore, when controlling the displacement of the end portion 40, the ATL head control portion 54g determines the length (displacement) of the rod portion 54b of each air cylinder 54 in order to realize the target position and posture of the end portion 40. calculate. These calculated values are then stored as target values for the lengths of the rod portions 54b of each air cylinder 54. The ATL head control unit 54g may compare these stored target values with the output value of the displacement sensor 54d of each air cylinder 54 during the pasting operation, and perform feedback control to reach the target value. Note that the target value may be set to the length of the rod portion 54b of each air cylinder 54, taking into account the shape error of the workpiece 2. In addition, the target position and orientation of the end portion 40 is the end portion for pressing the surface 2a to be pasted with the roller 31 from a direction (normal direction) perpendicular to the motion locus based on the three-dimensional coordinate data of the workpiece 2. These are the position and posture of the section 40.

Gantry structure 71 includes an A Y-axis linear motion mechanism 74 spanned in the Y-axis direction, and a Z-axis translation mechanism 75 supported by the Y-axis translation mechanism 74 and movable in the Z-axis direction.

The X-axis linear motion mechanism 72 includes an X-axis guide section 72a, an X-axis slide table 72b that is slidably attached to the X-axis guide section 72a, and an X-axis slide table 72b that is rotatable in the θz-axis direction on the X-axis slide table 72b. The Xθz-axis stage 73 is provided. The workpiece 2 is placed on the Xθz-axis stage 73.

The Y-axis linear motion mechanism 74 includes a gate-shaped Y-axis guide section 74a and a Y-axis slider 74b, which is a movable element in the Y-axis translation mechanism 74 and is slidably attached to the Y-axis guide section 74a. It consists of

The Z-axis linear motion mechanism 75 includes a Z-axis guide portion 75a attached to the Y-axis slider 74b, a Z-axis slider 75b slidably attached to the Z-axis guide portion 75a, and a Z-axis slider 75b attached to the Z-axis slider 75b. The ATL head 20 is attached to the lower end of the Z-axis bracket 75c. In addition, in this description, the Z-axis slider 75b and the Z-axis bracket 75c fixed thereto will be referred to as a mover in the Z-axis linear motion mechanism 75.

Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the servo valve 54e is fixed to the Z-axis bracket 75c to which the parallel link mechanism 50 is attached as described above. 54e is mounted in the vicinity of each air cylinder 54 of the parallel link mechanism 50. In this case, the servo valve 54e is displaced in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis direct drive mechanism 74, and is also displaced in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis direct drive mechanism 75, and the relative position of the servo valve 54e and the parallel link mechanism 50 is constant. It is.

FIG. 2(a) schematically shows an air pipe 81 connecting one of the air cylinders 54 constituting the parallel link mechanism 50 and the servo valve 54e. Because of this arrangement, the length of the air piping 81 is approximately the shortest.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the piping route of the air piping 82 connecting the air pressure supply section 54f, which is a compressed air source, and the servo valve 54e exits from the air pressure supply section 54f, goes up the support of the Y-axis guide section 74a, and goes up the Y-axis It reaches the servo valve 54e through a cable duct (not shown) connecting the guide portion 74a and the Y-axis slider 74b and a cable duct (not shown) connecting the Z-axis guide portion 75a and the Z-axis slider 75b. The piping length of this air piping 82 is sufficiently longer than the piping length of the above-mentioned air piping 81, and therefore, the servo valve 54e is located quite close to the air cylinder 54 side on the piping path from the air pressure supply section 54f to the air cylinder 54. They will be placed close together.

In this way, if at least the length of the air piping 81 is shorter than the length of the air piping 82, the length of the piping from the air cylinder 54 to the servo valve 54e is relatively short, and the pipe length within the piping is relatively short. Pressure loss is minimized, and the responsiveness of the air cylinder 54 to control of the servo valve 54e is increased.

In addition, as in this embodiment, the servo valve 54e is mounted on the Z-axis bracket 75c, which is the movable member to which the air cylinder 54 is attached, so that the piping length from the air cylinder 54 to the servo valve 54e can be made almost the shortest. Therefore, maximum responsiveness of the air cylinder 54 can be obtained.

Next, a tape pasting device according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 3.

In the tape applicator 10 of this embodiment, the servo valve 54e is provided on the Y-axis slider 74b, which is a movable element different from the Z-axis bracket 75c described above and is one of the movable elements that moves the parallel link mechanism 50. ing.

In this case, the piping route of the air piping 81 from the servo valve 54e to the air cylinder 54 exits the servo valve 54e, passes through a cable duct (not shown) that connects the Z-axis guide section 75a and the Z-axis slider 75b, and connects to the air cylinder 54. leading to.

Furthermore, the piping route of the air piping 82 from the air pressure supply section 54f to the servo valve 54e exits the air pressure supply section 54f, goes up the support of the Y-axis guide section 74a, and connects the Y-axis guide section 74a and the Y-axis slider 74b. It reaches the servo valve 54e through a connecting cable duct (not shown). Note that in this case as well, the length of the air pipe 81 is shorter than the length of the air pipe 82.

In the present embodiment, the servo valve 54e is displaced in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis direct motion mechanism 74, but is not displaced in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis direct motion mechanism 75.

Here, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, while the length of the air piping 81 can be made almost the shortest, it is necessary for the Z-axis direct motion mechanism 75 to support the weight of the servo valve 54e in addition to the parallel link mechanism 50, etc. Therefore, there is a possibility that a large-sized, high-output Z-axis linear motion mechanism 75 will be required, and the entire tape applicator 10 may become large.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the servo valve 54e is mounted on the Y-axis slider 74b, which is a movable element that is farther from the air cylinder 54 than the Z-axis bracket 75c, which is a movable element to which the air cylinder 54 is attached. Therefore, the Z-axis linear motion mechanism 75 can be made relatively compact, and thereby the entire tape applicator 10 can be made relatively small.

With the processing device described above, it is possible to control the operation of the control mechanism constituted by the air cylinder with good responsiveness.

Here, the processing device of the present invention is not limited to the form described above, and may have other forms within the scope of the present invention. For example, the processing device of the present invention is applicable not only to a tape pasting device but also to any device that involves controlling an air cylinder.

Further, in the above description, the tape applicator was equipped with a parallel link mechanism using a plurality of air cylinders, but the present invention may be applied to a processing apparatus using one air cylinder.

Furthermore, although a compressor is used as the compressed air source in the above description, the compressor is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a factory compressed air source.

1 Tape 2 Work 2a Surface to be pasted 10 Tape pasting device 20 ATL head 30 Pressing part 31 Roller 31a Rotating shaft 32 Roller support part 35 Feeder 40 End part 50 Parallel link mechanism 51 Link part 52 Universal joint 53 Universal joint 54 Air cylinder 54a Cylinder Part 54b Rod part 54c Pressure sensor 54d Displacement sensor 54e Servo valve 54f Air pressure supply part 54g ATL head control part 60 Base part 71 Gantry structure 72 X-axis linear motion mechanism 72a X-axis guide part 72b X-axis slide table 73 Xθz stage 74 Y Axial linear motion mechanism 74a Y-axis guide section 74b Y-axis slider 75 Z-axis linear motion mechanism 75a Z-axis guide section 75b Z-axis slider 75c Z-axis bracket

Claims (5)

a processing unit that performs predetermined processing on the target object;
an air cylinder that displaces the processing section;
a control valve that controls the flow rate of air supplied to the air cylinder;
a compressed air source that supplies compressed air to the control valve;
A processing device comprising:
A processing device characterized in that an air piping length from the air cylinder to the control valve is shorter than an air piping length from the control valve to the compressed air source. The control valve further includes a plurality of drive mechanisms that move the processing section and the air cylinder in different axial directions, and the control valve is mounted on one of the movers included in the plurality of drive mechanisms. The processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control valve is mounted on the mover to which the air cylinder is attached. 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of drive mechanisms have a gantry structure. From claim 1, wherein the processing section is a pressing section that presses the tape against the surface to be applied in order to apply the tape to the surface to be applied, and clamps the tape between the surface to be applied. 4. The processing device according to any one of 4.

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